The present invention generally relates to portable fireplaces, and more particularly, to a collapsible portable outdoor fireplace having components that may be taken apart and placed within top and bottom members of the fireplace for storage.
Fixed outdoor fireplaces, such as those made from brick, masonry and the like have been known for years. Portable outdoor fireplaces have recently entered the marketplace and have evidenced a distinct popularity. The size of these portable fireplaces is small and their structures are such that they permit them to be easily moved from one location to the other. Such fireplaces are found in the patent literature in U.S. Design Pat. No. 293,191, issued Dec. 15, 1987, U.S. Pat. No. 5,094,223 issued Mar. 10, 1992 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,980, issued Jan. 28, 1997.
The U.S. Design Pat. No. 293,191 describes a portable outdoor fireplace which incorporates the top and bottom covers of the well-known Weber "Kettle" grill spaced apart by an internal framework that defines a fire pit area. The internal framework must be removed to close the top and bottom covers together. No provision is made for storing the internal framework within the top and bottom covers, and hence these fireplaces require a large area for storage.
Another outdoor fireplace is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,596,980, issued Jan. 28, 1997 that is similar to the structure shown in the aforementioned U.S. Design Pat. No. '191 but which further includes a functional fire screen assembly in which a plurality of screens are fixed within a cylindrical frame assembly. This frame assembly includes top and bottom ring members that are spaced apart by columns. The fire screen assembly is large and must be removed and stored separately from the top and bottom covers. This fireplace cannot be easily disassembled and stored in a minimum amount of space because the internal framework of it cannot be easily disassembled.
The prior art therefore lacks a collapsible portable outdoor fireplace having a fire screen assembly in which the free screen assembly may be disassembled and stored between the top and bottom cover members in a manner such that the disassembled fireplace takes up a minimum amount of space for storage.